Means for removing crimped caps



Sept. 30, 1930.] r-- DARLING ,7

MEANS FOR REMOVING CRIHPED CAPS Filed Oct. 25, 1928 INVENTOR ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 30, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1mm: L.- nmme, or Lone nnaon, camrormn, YASSIGNOB' ro ornn E-Z CROWN 00. mm, or LONG BEACH, cnmronnm, A conrona'rxon or DELAWARE mums ronnnnovme onmnn cars Application filed October as, 1928. Serial no. 315,017.

My invention relates to devices for removing caps of the crimped or crown type from bottles, jars and other receptacles on which such caps are or may be employed. I

The present invention has for its object to provide certain modifications and improve-' ments on the device disclosed in my Patent No. 1,664,595, issued April 3,1928.

Further, the invention has for its objects to provide means for facilitating the application of the cap and remover to the bottle or other vessel on which the caps are used, also to simplify and facilitate manufacture of I the invention and make it possible to sell the remover as a separate and distinct article of manufacture from either cap or vessel if desired, leaving the article to be applied by the user at will.

Other objects will in part be obvious and in part be pointed out hereinafter.

To the attainment of -the aforesaid objects and ends, my invention consists in the novel details of construction and in the combina tion, connection and arrangement of parts, hereinafter more fully described and then pointed out in the claims.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a milk bottle which employs a crown cap as a closure, the remover being shown in place.

Figure 2 is a vertical longitudinal section of the bottle, the remover shown in place and the cap being shown in place in full lines, the dotted lines indicating the use of the remover for the purpose of lifting off the cap.

, Figure 3 is a perspective view of the bottle neck shown in Figure 1 with the remover omitted.

Figure 4 is a detail perspective view ofthe remover which is used in connection with bottles having the grooves and'recesses shown in Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a plan view of the mouth of a bottle neck showing another embodiment of the invention.

Figure 6 is a cross section on the line 6- of Figure 5.

Figure 7 is a detail elevation of the form of remover employed with bottle necks of the type shown in Figures 5 and 6.

Figure 8 isa detail elevation of another modification of the invention.

Figure 9 is a detail section on the line 9-9 of Figure 8. In the accdmpanying drawing which illustrates two embodiments of my invention and in which like numerals of reference indicate like parts in all of the figures, 1 represents a wide mouth vessel such as a milk bottle,'a. jug or jar, etc. so formed as to be closable by means of a crown or crimped cap of well known construction.

v In order that the capping of the bottle by automatic machinery may be facilitated and in order that the cost of manufacture and assembly of parts may be reduced to a minimum, I provide means to locate the remover on the vessels neck instead of connecting the same to the cap as in my patent hereinbefore referred to. This may be accomplished in a variety of ways, three of which, as examples, I have disclosed in the drawing.

By reference to Figures 1 to 4 inclusive. it will be observed that the vessel at the mouth ring is vertically grooved as at 3-3 and indented as at 2 2 to receive the hook ends 55 of the remover 4.

In passing the vessels throughautomatic capping machines the removers 4 are placed in position by any suitable mechanism or by hand and remain supported on the vessel by their ownweight so that when the capper operates it will place the cap 7 over the vessels mouth and press the skirt 8 into place, thereby catching, securing, and/or holding the remover firmly in place ready for use.

The remover 4 may be made of wire, flat band or anything of suitable material and shape as in my patent aforesaid, and it may have a slightly outward curve at its lower end 6 to serve as a finger engagement.

It will be noticed by reference to Figures 2, 3, 6. and 9, that the portion of the mouth of the vessel immediately surrounding the opening into the vessel is uninterrupted by the grooves or recesses 2 or 11 (see also Fig ure 5). This enables the sealing disk 9 of the cap to effect an air-tight seal of the bottle which would not be the case did the recesses 11 intersect the opening into the bottle neck.

The cork 0r sealing disk'9 of the ca will not only effectually close the aperture in the vessels neck but will overlie the hook ends 5 and hold them in the recesses 2 of the vessel.

In Figures 5 to 7 inclusive is shown another way of applying my ideas. In this embodiment of the invention the mouth rim 10 of the bottle neck has a groove 11 extending across its top face and at either end of the groove there is a vertical groove 12. The remover 13 has its ends 14 bent toward one another and they are adapted to lie in the groove 11 while the adjacent sides of the remover lie in the grooves 12 and projectdownwardly a suitable distance below the mouth rim end of the bottle.

By making the grooves 3-3 and/or 12 slightly under cut and by making the remover 4 or 13 as the case may be of resilient wire the lateral gripping effect due to the springiness of the remover will hold the remover on the bottle by the gripping action of the remover.

Instead of constructing the bottle grooves as indicated in Figures 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6 the transverse groove 11 may be pressed or otherwise formed in the periphery of the mouth rim, and instead of a continuous groove the groove 11 may be formed of two aligning sections as shown in Figures 8 and 9 and the ends 14 of the remover 13 may be bent away from each other instead of toward each other as in the embodiment shown in Figures 5, 6 and 7.

The placing of the caps on the bottles 10 in this embodiment of my invention, as in the preceding embodiment, serves not only to seal the bottle but also to hold the remover in place against accidental displacement.

This application is a continuation in part of my application filed August 20, 1928, Serial No. 300,899.

Numerous other modifications of the es sence of the present invention may be made without departing from the spirit thereof or the scope of the appended claims.

lVhat I claim is:

.1. In combination with a vessel having a neck with a mouth rim that is adapted to receive a crimped cap, a can remover comprising a strip of material having a reverse bend and having its ends separated, and means, other than the cap, on the vessel for receiving and holding said spaced ends whereby said remover will be pendent from the mouth rim alongside the neck, said means comprising recesses in the face'and sides of the mouth rim to provide hangers for said remover and said remover being resilient to grip the vessel with retaining friction.

2. In combination with a vessel having a neck with a mouth rim that is adapted to receive a crimped cap, a cap remover comprising a strip of material having a reverse bend and having its ends separated, and means,

other than the cap, on the vessel for receiving and holding said spaced ends whereby said remover will be pendent from the mouth rim alongside the neck, saidmeans including a pair of indentations in the top of the mouth rim of the vessel, said remover having hooklike ends to be received in said indentations, said means also including vertical grooves in the sides of the mouth rim, and said remover having portions to lie in said vertical grooves and extend below the skirt of the cap when the latter is in place.

3. In combination with a vessel having a neck with mouth rim and a bulge below the mouth rim, the m0uth rim being adapted to receive a crimped cap, a cap remover comprising a strip of resilient material having a reverse bend and having its ends separated. and means, other than the cap, on the vessel for receiving and holding said spaced ends whereby said remover will be held on thebottle neck in its operative position, said means comprising recesses in the mouth rim and vertical slots in the bulge for the purposes specified.

4. In combination with a vessel having a neck with a mouth rim that is adapted to receive a crimped cap, a cap remover comprising a strip of resilient material having a reverse bend and having its ends separated, said vessel having a pair of recesses in the face and sides of the mouth rim spaced apart a predetermined distance and providing hangers for said remover, said remover adapted to grip the vessel between said recesses, the mouth edge of said vessel between said recesses and the entrance to the vessel being uninterrupted and in the same continuous plane, and a crimped cap fitted over the vessels inouth rim and having a packing disk to seal the entrance to the vessel, said remover being caught between the skirt of the cap and the vessels neck when the cap is in place.

5. As a new article of manufacture, a vessel having a mouth with a rim or head, and having a plurality of vertical grooves formed in the sides of the vessel adjacent the bead, said grooves being jointly adapted to receive and hold a cap remover, and a cap remover held in said grooves with retaining friction substantially as specified.

6. As a new article of manufacture, a vessel having a neck provided with a mouth rim, a plurality of vertical grooves formed in the neck and mouth rim and spaced apart, and transverse grooves in the mouth rim merging with the vertical grooves, said transverse grooves lying in a chord of the rim, substantially as shown and for the purpose described.

7. As a new article of manufacture, a vessel having a neck provided with a mouth rim,

a plurality of adjacently disposed vertical grooves formed in the neck and mouth rim and spaced apart, and transverse recesses in the mouth rim registering with the vertical grooves, there being an uninterrupted surface at the mouth of the vessel between the mouth opening and the recesses for the purposes described.

8. In combination with a vessel having a mouth rim and adapted to be closed by a crimped cap, a cap remover, and means whereby said remover is detachably secured in its operative position on the vessels neck before the cap is placed thereon.

9. In combination with a vessel having a mouth rim andadapted to be closed by a crimped cap, a cap remover, and means whereby said remover is detachably secured in its operative position on the vessels neck before the cap is placed thereon, said means including suitable recesses in the rim of the vessel to receive a portion of said remover and retain same on the vessel.

10. In combination with a vessel having a mouth rim and adapted to be closed by a crimped cap, a cap remover, and means whereby said remover is detachably secured in its operative position on the vessels neck before the cap is placed thereon, said means including suitable recesses in the-rim of the vessel to receive a portion of said remover and retain same on the vessel, said remover comprising a strip of material having a reverse bend and having its ends separated and sustained in said recesses.

11. In combination with a vessel having a mouth rim that is adapted to receive a crimped cap, a cap remover comprising a strip of resilient material having a reverse bend and having its ends separated, said vessel having a pair of recesses in the face and sides of the mouth rim spaced apart a predetermined distance and providing hangers for said remover, said remover adapted to grip the vessel between said recesses, the mouth edge of said vessel between said recesses and the entrance to the vessel being uninterrupted and in the same continuous plane, and a crimped cap fitted over the vessels mouth rim and having a packing disk to seal the entrance to the vessel, said remover being caught between the skirt of the cap and the vessels side when the cap is in place,

12. In combination, a vessel having a mouth adapted to be closed by a crimped cap and having imperforate side walls and a sealing edge uninterrupted in the same continuous plane, the vessel having adjacent the mouth seats spaced eircumferentially of the mouth and each defined by an upstanding wall disposed outwardly from the seat, a cap remover having a pair of s aced terminal portions each detachably fitting into one of said seats and engaging the said wall thereof to detachably secure the remover in its operative position on the vessels neck before the cap is placed thereon, said terminal portions being spaced circumferentially of the mouth, and a crimped cap overlying said seats and the portions of the remover which are located therein.

13. In combination, a vessel having a mouth adapted to be closed b a crimped cap and having imperforate si e walls and a sealing edge uninterrupted in'the same continuous plane, the vessel having adjacent the mouth seats spaced circumferentially of the mouth and each defined by an upstanding wall disposed outwardly from the seat, a cap remover comprising a handle havin a pair of spaced hook members each fitting into one of said seats and engaging said wall thereof to detachably secure the remover in its operative position on the vessels neck before the cap is placed thereon, said hook members being spaced ci'rcumferentially of the mouth, and a crimped edge cap overlying said seats and the members of the remover therein.

FRANK L. DARLING. 

